Jeremy Scahill confronts Chuck Todd on Real Time With Bill Maher
Independent journalist Jeremy Scahill (The Nation, Democracy Now!) appeared on HBO‘s Real Time With Bill Maher alongside NBC White House correspondent Chuck Todd. Because Jeremy isn’t the type to let such an opportunity to go to waste, he used some of his time to castigate the corporate media for failing to question the White House about the reliance on private contracting firms like Blackwater in Iraq and Afghanistan. And he also brought up Todd’s opinion that investigating Bush-era abuses would be a distraction.
Scahill shared with Salon.com‘s Glenn Greenwald what happened off camera:
Right as we walked off stage, he said to me, “That was a cheap shot.” I said, “What are you talking about?” and he said, “You know it.” I then said that I monitor msm coverage very closely and asked him what was not true that I said on the show. He then replied: “That’s not the point. You sullied my reputation on TV.”
You can see part of their exchange on the show here. If Scahill repeating what Todd said is “sullying” his reputation, then didn’t Todd really sully himself?
Oh, the appearance of a reputation. It’s always optics, isn’t it. Except when it’s about the right to tell the truth.